I wish I could go back and redo the guide for those really short entries and flesh them out, but it's been too long since I've heard most of those headphones. The guide became much bigger than I anticipated. It was gonna be something simple. Like a headphone being good or bad with a short impression. Now... it's quite a different beast. You can really see which of my entries are more recent just by the sheer size of the review.

The E11 isn't gonna do much extra amping to the Mixamp. I would've went with something a bit more powerful, like the E12. A 2db boost over the Mixamp's output needs about double the power. That's why desktop amps are more ideal. I highly doubt the E11 has 2x the power, let alone more for even more volume.

Hmm, in that case, the E11 should be enough for the DT770 Pro 80. It's not that hard to drive.

A 3.5mm male/male cable between the E11 and Mixamp is all you'll need.

But since you have a generous amount of experience in BT-770 + Mixamp topic, would you suggest not using E11 at all? Will Mixamp drive it OK? I would do direct headphone 3.5mm to 3.5mm mixamp connection then.

Hmm, you can get by with the Mixamp alone. I'd honestly save up for at least an E9 to power the DT770 Pro 80 to a higher level. I'm not a fan of portable amps as they just don't have that much power, relative to desktop amps. The E12 is the one exception that I've seen that doesn't cost a ton of money. The E9 costs like $30 more than the E11, and I say it'd worth it. I prefer the E9K though for better inputs, and it's a little more.Edited by Mad Lust Envy - 4/8/13 at 4:52am

Hmm, you can get by with the Mixamp alone. I'd honestly save up for at least an E9 to power the DT770 Pro 80 to a higher level. I'm not a fan of portable amps as they just don't have that much power, relative to desktop amps. The E12 is the one exception that I've seen that doesn't cost a ton of money. The E9 costs like $30 more than the E11, and I say it'd worth it. I prefer the E9K though for better inputs, and it's a little more.

Hey man, now I'm confused, I thought of getting E11 before since lots of guys gave good reviews for such combo with DT-770. How about O2 or C5? I thought of going the NwAvGuy way via O2.

As I said, I dont like portable amps. You're paying more for the portability, than actual technicalities. If you can spring for a desktop amp, it will improve your headphones more.

The O2... I dont like its front inputs. For that, I would rather get the Schiit Magni which is cheaper and comparable. I like the E9k over the Magni due to the extra inputs and versatility. The higher output impedance wouldn't hurt the Dt770 pro 80, as its 80ohms.

Regardless of what you get, I would save up for a desktop amp over a portanle one.

As I said, I dont like portable amps. You're paying more for the portability, than actual technicalities. If you can spring for a desktop amp, it will improve your headphones more.

The O2... I dont like its front inputs. For that, I would rather get the Schiit Magni which is cheaper and comparable. I like the E9k over the Magni due to the extra inputs and versatility. The higher output impedance wouldn't hurt the Dt770 pro 80, as its 80ohms.

Regardless of what you get, I would save up for a desktop amp over a portanle one.

Well, kinda sad what happened to NwAvGuy and some Schiit product users, so I don't won't to go with Schiit by now.

Perhaps I'll try Modi/Magni somewhere in distant future when I'll be more experienced.

Not familiar with the details, but I think there was at least one video going around showing serious overvolting deforming/popping drivers which caused mass panic and confusion. I think the problem was fixed pretty soon afterwards.

As for 770 Pros, they work wonderfully well with my E17. Really low output impedance makes the bass nice and tight. I'm not sure what MLE tested on for his initial review but in that sense the Beyers could absolutely benefit from a decent amp, even though they might be easy to drive at a good volume from a Mixamp (or anything else)

Hello, I've been reading your headphone gaming guide for awhile now since I saw someone link it on the Gaming PC subreddit on reddit. However I'm not the most experienced when it comes to this stuff either. Which leads me to my newbie question pertaining to using headphones only as opposed to headsets for gaming and music/movies. Now if I got the AKG K702 65th Annie headphones for example do I need something like the AstroGaming Mix Amp to get 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound or will it just be stereo on my PC if I plug it into my motherboard on my PC?

My PC's motherboard does support up to 7.1 surround on it. However I'm assuming if I would need an actual surround sound system for that to work. Or will I just have to change a setting in my Windows 7 OS to get 7.1 out of the headphones? Otherwise I'd assume it would just play stereo 2.1 correct?

I currently own a Logitech G930 gaming headset, but the mic on it sucks. So I'm trying to find some other headphones/headsets I can buy. Hence browsing through your guide and these questions. Now I know you owned a pair of Astro A50s at one point. Do you happen to know if that headset works for surround if it's just paired with a USB cable to my PC by any chance? My computer doesn't have any optical cable ports.

Thank you in advance, and great job on the guide. It was very helpful in understanding some things pertaining to certain headsets and headphones. Currently leaning towards one of these 3 A50 (wireless), K702 Annie (seems to have the best rating/balance for price ratio), or the PC360 by Sennheiser.

Hello, I've been reading your headphone gaming guide for awhile now since I saw someone link it on the Gaming PC subreddit on reddit. However I'm not the most experienced when it comes to this stuff either. Which leads me to my newbie question pertaining to using headphones only as opposed to headsets for gaming and music/movies. Now if I got the AKG K702 65th Annie headphones for example do I need something like the AstroGaming Mix Amp to get 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound or will it just be stereo on my PC if I plug it into my motherboard on my PC?

My PC's motherboard does support up to 7.1 surround on it. However I'm assuming if I would need an actual surround sound system for that to work. Or will I just have to change a setting in my Windows 7 OS to get 7.1 out of the headphones? Otherwise I'd assume it would just play stereo 2.1 correct?

I currently own a Logitech G930 gaming headset, but the mic on it sucks. So I'm trying to find some other headphones/headsets I can buy. Hence browsing through your guide and these questions. Now I know you owned a pair of Astro A50s at one point. Do you happen to know if that headset works for surround if it's just paired with a USB cable to my PC by any chance? My computer doesn't have any optical cable ports.

Thank you in advance, and great job on the guide. It was very helpful in understanding some things pertaining to certain headsets and headphones. Currently leaning towards one of these 3 A50 (wireless), K702 Annie (seems to have the best rating/balance for price ratio), or the PC360 by Sennheiser.

Let me start by saying this is a question more geared for Nameless, but I'll do my best to get you started in the right direction.

If you are using onboard audio, and there isn't an optical out port on your motherboard, an Astro Mixamp will do you no good.

For surround the best option would be to purchase a sound card that has Dolby Headphone or something similar, the sound card will take the surround audio from the game and do the same thing the mixamp would have done if it was fed the surround signal via optical.

As far as headphones go, if you are strictly going to be using them for gaming, you really can't go wrong with the PC360's, for the price and the fact they come with a mic, you shouldn't look any further.

Hi Erik, thanks for the reply. I wouldn't strictly use them for gaming. I want to use them for music and movies as well. I'll have to look for a good sound card I guess then if I go for headphones instead. Any recommendations from your experiences?